DAIRY. 



vast quantities sent to other parts of Europe, 

 to the West and East Indies, and other parts 

 of the world, England imported in 1830 no less 

 than 116,233 cwt. of Dutch batter, and 167,913 

 cwt. of Dutch cheese. 



The pastures in Holland, as is generally 

 known, have been reclaimed from the ocean, 

 the waters of which are kept off by artificial 

 embankments. The lands, of course, lie very 

 low and flat, and as the water in the numerous 

 canals is always near the top, the soil must be. 

 moist. The ground is seldom broken up with 

 the plough, but is kept in good condition by 

 top dressings, consisting chiefly of the solid, 

 and especially the liquid manures collected in 

 the cow-houses, mixed with the scrapings of 

 the small canals. The first year after such 

 dressing the land is generally mxiwn for hay. 



The Hollanders make careful selections of 

 their cows for the dairy, the price of good ones 

 being usually from $40 to $45. " They are 

 generally fattened and turned off to the butcher, 

 at eight years old, and bulls at four or five. 

 The cows are turned to pasture in March or 

 April, and are at first covered with a very thick 

 cloth of tow, covering the upper half of the 

 body from the shoulders to the tail, to prevent 

 diseases from cold. They are pastured about 

 thirty weeks. Hay is their common food in 

 winter, though rape-cake and brewer's grains 

 are sometimes added. The byers or cow- 

 houses are generally lofty, airy, paved with 

 large square bricks, and kept perfectly clean. 

 The roof is about ten feet high. There are no 

 racks or mangers, but the food placed in gut- 

 ters, always clean, near their heads. Gutters 

 in the rear serve to carry off the urine and 

 dung, and these gutters are also kept clean. 



" Process of manufacture. The cows are al- 

 ways milked by the men, and the butter and 

 cheese made by the women, generally of the 

 family. Ninety cows are managed by nine 

 men and two women. There is generally one 

 man required to ten cows ; while two women 

 are considered eno'ugh for any dairy. The 

 farmer reckons that he can make 100 guilders, 

 about $40, per annum, by each cow. 



" Butter. There are three distinct kinds of 

 butter made in Holland ; grass butter, made 

 when the cows are at grass ; whey butter, from 

 the whey of sweet milk cheese ; and hay butter, 

 made in winter. * 



" Grass butter. The cows being carefully 

 milked to the last drop, the pitchers containing 

 the milk are put into the koelbak. When the 

 cream has been gathered and is soured, and if 

 there is a sufficient quantity from the number 

 of cows, they churn every twenty-four hours, 

 the churn being half filled with the soured 

 cream. A little boiled warm water is added 

 in winter, to give the whole the proper degree 

 of heat, and in very warm weather the milk is 

 first cooled in the koelbak or cooler. In small 

 dairies the milk is sometimes churned, when 

 soured, without separating the cream. The 

 butter, immediately after being taken out of 

 the churn, is put into a shallow tub, called a 

 vloot, and carefully washed with pure cold 

 water. It is then worked with a slight sprink- 

 ling of fine salt, whether for immediate use or 

 the barrel. When the cows have been three 

 396 



DAIRY. 



! weeks at grass, the butter is delicious, is made 

 in fanciful shapes of lambs, stuck with the 

 flowers of the polyanthus, pyramids, &c., and 

 sells as high as 44 stivers, 60 to 70 cents, the , 

 17 oz. or Dutch pound. If intended for bar- 

 relling, the butter is worked up twice or thrice 

 a day, with soft, fine salt, for three days, in a 

 flat tub, there being about two pounds of this 

 salt allowed for fourteen pounds of butter; the 

 butter is then hard packed by thin layers into 

 casks, which casks are previously carefully ' 

 seasoned and cleaned. They are always of 

 oak, well smoothed inside. Before being used, 

 they are allowed to stand three or four days, 

 filled with sour whey, and thereafter carefully 

 washed out and dried. Each cow, after being 

 some time at grass, yields about one Dutch 

 pound (17 oz.) of butter per day. 



" We beg our dairy-women," says Judge 

 Buel, "to mark two points in the preceding 

 process. 1. No salt is used but what is incorpo- 

 rated with and dissolved in the butter, and which is 

 necessary to give it flavour ; and, 2. The but in- 

 intended for keeping is worked from six to tni 

 times, to incorporate the salt, and to separate 

 from it every particle of liquid, which, if left in 

 it, would induce rancidity. 



" Hay butter undergoes a like process. 



" Whey butter. The whey is allowed to stand 

 three days or a week, -after being separated 

 from the curd, when the cream is skimmed off, 

 or the whey itself put into the churn, and the 

 butter is formed in about an hour. By this 

 process, in winter, one pound of butter is ob- 

 tained from each cow in a week, and in sum- 

 mer one pound and a half. The relative prices 

 are generally, grass butter 8 stivers, hay but- 

 ter 7, and whey butter 6. 



Cheese. There are four kinds of staple cheese 

 made in Holland ; the Edam and Gouda, both 

 made from unskimmed milk ; and two kinds, 

 Kanter cheese, made from milk once or twice 

 skimmed. 



" Edam cheese. The process of manufacture 

 of the Edam cheese is as follows : 



" The milk being yearned as soon as taken 

 from the cow, when coagulated, the hand or a 

 wooden bowl is passed gently two or three 

 times through the curds, which are then al- 

 lowed to stand a few minutes. The bowl or 

 finger is again passed through them, and 

 they stand a few minutes. The whey is 

 then taken off with the wooden bowl, and the 

 curd is then put into a wooden form (of the 

 proper size and shape of the cheese to be 

 made). This form is cut out of the solid wood 

 by a turner, and has one hole in the bottom. 

 If the cheese is of the small size (about 4 Ibs.), 

 it remains in this form about ten or twelve 

 days ; if the large sized, it remains about four- 

 teen days. It is turned daily, the upper part 

 during this time being kept sprinkled with 

 about two ounces of purified salt of the large 

 crystals. It is then removed into a second box 

 or form of the same size, with four holes in 

 the bottom, and put under- a press of about 

 50 Ibs. weight, where it remains from two to 

 three hours if of the small size, and from four 

 to six if of the large size. It is then taken 

 out, and put on a dry, airy shelf in the cheese 

 apartment, and daily turned over for about four 



